“Since Saturday, Israel admitted to dropping 6,000 bombs on Gaza, killing up to 1,569 Palestinians, including 447 children and infants, and 248 women. More than 7,000 Palestinians are injured.
“We urge the international community to address the illness instead of the symptom. The Israeli occupation of Palestine is the real illness, the escalation from last Saturday is the symptom of this long illness.
“In this genocidal war, seven journalists have lost their lives in the line of duty,” said Jarrar.
She lamented that in retaliation, Israel has cut food, water and electricity supply to Gaza, a situation she said has plunged the people into a humanitarian crisis.
“Fuel will run out by noon, hospitals are out of medication. People have no space and time to bury the dead.
“We cannot blame the Palestinians for their reaction as long as the reaction is guaranteed by international laws with the objective of establishing their own independent state and self-determination as all nations around the world.
“For 16 years, the more than 2-million people of Gaza have been under siege by Israel and forced into the world's largest open air prison.”
Jarrar said they are not privy to the long-term strategy of Hamas but are confident the group is acting “in the interest of liberating Palestine” from the occupations that go back decades.
There are no notable Israeli government officials who have denounced the war, she said.
“Has the international community sought Israeli's condemnation of settlement expansion or the ongoing occupation? These two are war crimes but the world has been largely silent. During the past 16 years, Israel has launched five wars on Gaza, one of which lasted 51 days.
“The genocidal war is of such gravity that it demands the immediate attention and action of the international community.
“We cannot ask more from South Africa as they have always shown unwavering support,” she said.
Earlier, the international relations and co-operation department said it was following up on reports from the Israeli embassy that two South Africans died in the conflict.
LISTEN | 'We can't blame Palestinians for their reaction to Israel', says Palestine embassy
Image: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
The Palestine embassy in South Africa says the escalation of the “genocidal” war between Israel and Palestine has reached a critical point that threatens to engulf the entire region.
According to Hanan Jarrar, Palestine ambassador to South Africa who was briefing media on Friday in Pretoria, the weekend's attack by Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) on Israel — in which about 1,300 Israelis died — is a fraction of what the Palestine people have faced over the past 70 years under Israel's occupation.
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“Since Saturday, Israel admitted to dropping 6,000 bombs on Gaza, killing up to 1,569 Palestinians, including 447 children and infants, and 248 women. More than 7,000 Palestinians are injured.
“We urge the international community to address the illness instead of the symptom. The Israeli occupation of Palestine is the real illness, the escalation from last Saturday is the symptom of this long illness.
“In this genocidal war, seven journalists have lost their lives in the line of duty,” said Jarrar.
She lamented that in retaliation, Israel has cut food, water and electricity supply to Gaza, a situation she said has plunged the people into a humanitarian crisis.
“Fuel will run out by noon, hospitals are out of medication. People have no space and time to bury the dead.
“We cannot blame the Palestinians for their reaction as long as the reaction is guaranteed by international laws with the objective of establishing their own independent state and self-determination as all nations around the world.
“For 16 years, the more than 2-million people of Gaza have been under siege by Israel and forced into the world's largest open air prison.”
Jarrar said they are not privy to the long-term strategy of Hamas but are confident the group is acting “in the interest of liberating Palestine” from the occupations that go back decades.
There are no notable Israeli government officials who have denounced the war, she said.
“Has the international community sought Israeli's condemnation of settlement expansion or the ongoing occupation? These two are war crimes but the world has been largely silent. During the past 16 years, Israel has launched five wars on Gaza, one of which lasted 51 days.
“The genocidal war is of such gravity that it demands the immediate attention and action of the international community.
“We cannot ask more from South Africa as they have always shown unwavering support,” she said.
Earlier, the international relations and co-operation department said it was following up on reports from the Israeli embassy that two South Africans died in the conflict.
South Africa checking whether two of its citizens were killed in Israel
Jarrar said: “There are a lot of South Africans of Palestinian descent in Gaza. They are updating us on the situation. When wars are taking place there is no clear target, everyone is a target.”
Communication and the flow of information had become difficult with the electricity cut. The source of information is sometimes blocked, she said.
TimesLIVE
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